Pierce’s fate now rests with the same Manhattan grand jury hearing evidence against his former teammate, Burress. The top charge the pair faces — felony criminal weapons possession — carries a mandatory 3½-year prison term.

Pierce and Burress were together in the VIP vestibule of the Latin Quarter nightclub in Midtown in November when Burress accidentally shot himself clear through his thigh with his own gun.

According to law-enforcement sources, a security guard picked the blood-splattered, still warm Glock up off the club floor and stashed it in the glove compartment of Pierce’s Escalade.

Cops say that after driving Plax to the hospital, Pierce drove to Totowa, NJ, where both players live. He then dropped the gun off at Plaxico’s house.

Prosecutors have considered “flipping” the security guard to nail the two players, according to sources.

“It’s our position Antonio committed no crime whatsoever, and had no way of knowing that the weapon was anything other than properly licensed,” Bachner said. “Antonio acted bravely and responsibly to save what he thought could have been his teammate’s life by driving him to the hospital.”

Meanwhile, the lawyer for Burress said he was outraged that DA Robert Morgenthau released sensitive information about plea negotiations — including that his office was seeking a two-year prison term even on a plea deal — while a grand jury was sitting in the case.

“His actions have so undermined the integrity of the grand jury proceedings as to make any indictment — should one be returned — vulnerable to legal dismissal,” Burress lawyer Benjamin Brafman said.

Burress had purchased the gun legally and can document that the permit renewal form was never forwarded to him in New Jersey, Brafman said.

The gun went off accidentally — not in the commission of a crime — and Burress has had several robbery scares, most recently one just weeks before the incident, when “the back door of his home was kicked in during a robbery,” Brafman said.